Courtship
by AzaleaFaye
Summary: Courtship:the act of wooing, of seeking the affection of another. Friendship often brews love -- but realizing this new affection often takes time. A take on the evolution of James' feelings towards our favorite redhead, Lily Evans. (Set during their 7th


Disclaimer: I still do not own any of them…

Author's Note: Hello again! Before anything else, I would like to thank all those wonderful people who read my first attempt at an L/J, Serendipity. Thank you so much for brightening my days with those wonderfully positive reviews! And not to worry – I will post a final chapter on that story sometime soon (or atleast I'm hoping it will be sometime soon). Anyhow, here's a new L/J story that I thought up a few days ago. Hopefully, no one else has thought of writing up a story such as this one. If there are similarities to other stories, however, then I apologize in advance. Well then, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and hopefully, if you guys want, there will be more chapters to come. Enjoy this first chapter, and please don't forget to review!

Chapter 1: A Somewhat Decent Proposal

It is a rare occasion to spot a Hogwarts student or staff member roaming the castle halls at six o'clock in the morning. The usual echoes of excited chatter is replaced by the quiet mumbles of complaint from portraits, annoyed after being awakened by an irritating peeves or being surprised by a howling breeze. Such is the tranquility in the halls that any noise – be it the loud call of the caretaker's cat, or the soft entrance of a Hogwarts ghost – go unnoticed. Truly, six o'clock in the morning is a time of peace and quiet through Hogwarts Castle. 

This, however, is not one of those mornings.

~~*~~~*~~

"I cannot believe you!"

The loud bang of a door slamming open echoed throughout the corridors of Hogwarts Castle, accented with the quick pitter-patter of running footsteps. Two figures – a boy and a girl – came into view, both rounding a corner with flushed faces.

"I even reminded you last night before you went to bed!" exclaimed the girl, her long, red hair whipping wildly behind her as she ran a good two feet in front of the boy, clutching a heavy book bag. "But what do you do, James? You decided to show up at an insanely later time than the one we had agreed upon!"

The attractive girl glared at the boy running behind her, green eyes narrowed at the obvious target of her musings.

"Calm down, Lily!" said the boy, a lopsided grin spreading across his lips. He glanced down at his watch, ignoring the unworn left sleeve of his school robes flapping behind him. "It's still early; I'm sure Dumbledore himself isn't there yet."

With a scoff, the girl abruptly stopped to face the boy, glancing at her watch with narrowed green eyes. "It's 6:45, James! The meeting began fifteen minutes ago – and we're not there!" With an exasperated sigh, she turned around. "Honestly James: you're the Head boy; start acting like one."

Before the girl had a chance to walk farther, the boy, his eyes filled with guilt, gently took hold of the retreating girl's arm.

"Lily, wait."

"James, we're already late! What are you doing?"

"Listen, I'm sorry," said the boy, his face a mask of sincerity. "I didn't mean for you to get upset." He waited for any reply from the girl, face-faulting when he got none. "Alright, I promise I will never be late to any future meetings with Dumbledore," sighed the boy, his hazel eyes hopeful as he admitted defeat.  

"And how do I know you will keep this promise?" asked the girl, her face dubious, her eyes narrowed in a questioning glare.

"How long have we been friends, Lily?"

"Seven years."

"And have I ever let you down in those seven years?"

"Hmm…well, there was this one time when you showed up late for our meeting with Dumbledore," said the girl, a mischievous glint on her eyes and a knowing smirk on her lips. With a mock gasp, she added, "Oh my goodness – that was only a few minutes ago!"

"Very funny, Miss Smartass," commented the boy with a roll of his eyes. "This morning doesn't count."

"Fine," scoffed the girl. "How about the number of times during fifth and sixth year when you promised you will attend a prefect meeting? Not once did I see you in that room!"

"Oh please – as if anyone wanted to attend those meetings!" scoffed the boy. "Besides, those don't count either."

"James! Will any of the times you've disappointed actually count?" asked the girl, an eyebrow raised in question and a look of irritation on her face. 

"Not really," replied the boy with a shrug of his shoulders. "Which basically means I never have – and never will – let you down!"

"Whatever you say, James," sighed the girl, an amused smile on her lips. "Just make sure you keep your promise this time around." 

With a curt nod, the beautiful redhead resumed her trek to the headmaster's office, not a single word escaping her lips. Behind her, the messy-haired boy followed suit, finally noticing his unworn left sleeve. He walked behind the girl, a few feet away, adjusting his robes and his glasses. 

"What's the password again?" asked the girl as she and the boy reached the stone gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office. "I've forgotten."

"Lily, Lily – what will you ever do without me?" said the boy with a smirk, shaking his head from side to side in mock disbelief. 

"Oh shut up and just say it!"

"Sugarquills," announced the boy, a triumphant smile on his face as he and the girl watched the gargoyle move out of the way. With a confident smirk, the boy named James strode past the frowning redhead, a twinkle of amusement evident in his hazel eyes. "Now you're the one letting me down."

Scoffing and hitting the boy lightly in the back, the girl named Lily followed the other teen up the spiral stone staircase, stopping as they reached the headmaster's organized, circular office. "He's not here," commented the girl, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. 

"I told you we were early."

"He probably got tired of waiting for us," said the girl, her tone slightly frustrated. Turning sharply towards the boy, her eyes narrowed, she added, "I am holding you responsible for this, James!"

"Actually, Miss Evans, it seems I am the one at fault," said a calm voice, surprising the two teens and prompting both to turn around and face its source: Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. "I apologize for my lateness – and for startling you. I hope I haven't been keeping you for long?"

"Oh not at all, professor!" exclaimed the boy, his voice filled with cheer, waving a hand dismissively in the air. "We actually just got here ourselves. Lily here took quite awhile to get ready. Women – they always take their time beautifying themselves."

"What?! That's not true, professor!" said the girl, a look of panic on her face. She flashed the boy – who was feigning a look of innocence – a dangerous glare. "It was James who decided to take his pre—"

"Don't worry Miss Evans," interjected the old wizard, calmly cutting the girl off. "You will not be reprimanded for arriving late – otherwise, we will have to get someone to lecture me on the value of punctuality."

"Yeah Lily, it's alright to be late sometimes," added the boy, sending the girl (who was looking murderously at the messy-haired boy) a winning smile. "Well then professor, shall we begin?" 

"Yes, I do believe that is a good idea, Mister Potter," agreed the headmaster, quietly closing the door behind him, finally getting the already late meeting to a start. 

~~*~~~*~~

"Where are those two?"

"Padfoot, if you ask that question one more time, I will honestly lose my temper and will be forced to hurt you," said the usually patient Remus Lupin, a slightly annoyed scoff escaping his lips. "I've told you about a hundred times: James and Lily are in a meeting with Dumbledore."

"Well Moony, I'm just concerned," sighed Sirius Black, wrenching his eyes away from the entrance to the Great Hall and running a hand through his unruly hair as he sat down next to his friend. "James has a tendency to be grumpy during Quidditch practices when he doesn't eat a proper breakfast."

"So basically, you're more concerned about your own ass," smirked Remus, spearing a piece of bacon with his fork. "Don't tell me you're scared of having your best friend yell at you for being a prat – he's done that before, you know."

"Yeah, that's true," nodded Sirius, pouring a good amount of Orange juice into his goblet. "But James actually had a healthy breakfast during those many instances. Trust me; he gets really irritable without a properly nutritious breakfast."

Remus, not wanting to pursue the subject any further, raised his hand in defeat. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. But don't worry, Padfoot – I'm sure James and Lily will be here any second. Those meetings usually don't take that long anyway."

As if on cue, the cheerful laugh of Hogwart's Head boy echoed through the halls. Sirius and Remus, along with a good number of the students having their breakfast, turned their attention to the Great Hall's entrance, where James Potter and Lily Evans came into view, the Head Boy smirking a few feet behind the girl. 

"Speak of the devils," muttered Sirius, nodding at the approaching pair. "What took you two so long?' asked Sirius, taking his bag off the seat next to him and plopping it onto the floor, making room for the two arrivals. 

"Don't even say it James," warned Lily, gripping the stem of her goblet rather tightly as she raised it to her lip, about to make a sip. James, not wanting to further aggravate his friend (and already satisfied with the way he has pushed her buttons so early in the morning), decided to explain to the other two the real reason why he and the girl were late. Once done, he looked at Lily with honest sincerity.

"Listen Lily, I truly, deeply apologize for acting like a prat this morning," James began, slightly biting his bottom lip to see if the girl is listening. She wasn't – she pointedly ignored the boy, eating her porridge quietly. "Alright then, I didn't want to result to this," muttered James, running a hand through his hair as he got off his seat. Slowly, he took Lily's hand into his and got down to his knees, much to the confusion of the girl and the curiosity of the other students.

"James, what are you doing?!" exclaimed the girl, aghast. 

"Lily Evans," began James, pointedly ignoring the girl's – and the audience's – questioning look. "I, James Potter, wish to apologize for my immensely immature behavior this morning. I should not have lied to the headmaster, blaming you for our tardiness to the meeting. It was I, James Potter, who should be blamed – not someone as mature and _understanding _a person like you, Lily Evans." 

The audience – those students having breakfast at that time – shifted their gazes at the redhead, anticipating the response of the wide-eyed girl. "Alright; fine," said the girl, a smile forming at her lips. "I accept your apology. Now get up, you're looking incredibly stupid from this vantage point."

With a sigh of relief, James got back on his feet and bowed to the audience, who were clapping in response to his little act. 

"Be thankful you're a good friend, James," said Lily casually, not making eye contact with the boy. "Otherwise, I would have clobbered you to death after that stunt."

"And trust me Potter – feisty redheads like Evans here can really do that," interjected a voice, rather cheerful but at the same time smug. 

With a scowl, Lily (along with the three boys) turned around to face the boy who had said those words: Amos Diggory, a boy in their year and the Captain of the Hufflepuff house quidditch team.  It was a known fact that the head girl was not very fond of the boy; he seemed too arrogant for her taste. "What do you think you're doing here, Diggory? Shouldn't you be entertaining your fans at the Hufflepuff table?" asked the girl with a sneer.

"You're attractive, Lily – but not attractive enough to get my attention," said the boy rather dismissively, a rather cocky smirk on his lips. "Besides, I came over here to remind James over here about the little scrimmage between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff house teams."

"Don't worry, mate! I didn't forget about that, so get ready to be beaten!"

"We'll see about that, Potter," nodded the boy. He turned to leave for his own house table, but before fully leaving, he turned his gaze towards the redhead. "And red, try not to be so feisty all the time, alright?" With a wink, he turned and left the four friends, Lily with a scowl on her face. 

"That boy is such a pompous, egotistical ass," said Lily, her eyes narrowed angrily at the retreating back of the boy in question. "Honestly, if he wasn't the captain of his Quidditch team, no one would be paying any attention to him." She turned her attention to the hazel-eyed boy next to her, a rather mischievous smile on her lips. "He's just like you James – rather cocky, a bunch of brainless female fans twittering around him – only you have a small amount of intelligence in you."

"Hey!" said James as Lily giggled. 

"You know Lily, Amos is not that bad. Once you get to know him, he's pretty alright," commented Sirius, placing his elbows on the table. 

"Too bad – I don't intend on ever getting to know him," replied Lily as she slowly got up from her seat, lightly brushing crumbs off her robes. "Anyway, I better go now; I left my History of Magic essay in my dormitory. See you three later!"

The three boys watched as Lily gracefully lifted her book bag off the floor and walked away from the table, disappearing from view. For a few minutes, the three boys remained silent, finishing their breakfast without another word. The silence was broken, however, when Remus suddenly looked up at his friends, a bewildered expression on his face. "Hey, where the hell is Peter?"

~~*~~~*~~ 

James hovered above the Quidditch field, a good twenty feet above the other players engaged in a rather heated game (Hufflepuff was leading by twenty points). As his usual practice, the Gryffindor captain scanned the air for the familiar glint of glory he is so accustomed to, hastily wiping away a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his cheek. Suddenly, a blur of gold buzzed in front of James, making him smile in triumph. _Guess it's time to end this,_ thought the boy as he prompted his broomstick to fly towards the direction the snitch flew towards.

With a loud "whoop!" of delight, James caught the snitch a good millisecond before the winged ball decided to increase its speed. Landing softly on the green grass, James was greeted by his teammates with excited claps on the back, all congratulating the boy on a spectacular catch. He looked at both his teammates and the boys from the other team and said, "Good game, boys. Let's do this again sometime, alright?"

Nodding in agreement, the other boys proceeded to walk back into the locker rooms, all tired out from the intense game. James and Sirius followed suit, not speaking to each other due to sheer exhaustion. The Gryffindor captain stopped, however, when Amos called out his name, lightly punching his shoulder. 

"Hey James, can I speak with you for a minute?"

James gave the other boy a puzzled look, and then turned his attention to his best friend. "Go on ahead, Padfoot – I'll meet you at the Great Hall for dinner." Sirius, too tired and too hungry to reply verbally, nodded his head and continued on with his trek to the locker rooms. 

"So, what is it that you wanted to speak with me of?"

Amos ran a hand through his damp, sweaty hair, nervously gulping. "You know your friend, Lily Evans?"

"Yeah; we've been friends for seven years," said James, his eyebrows scrunched in curiosity. "You're not mad at her because of this morning, are you?"

"Oh no, I'm not," replied the boy. "It's just…I kind of…fancy her." 

James felt his jaw drop, his eyes widening in surprise. "Wait, the same Lily you were teasing this morning?"

"Yeah, that Lily Evans."

The two boys stood in quiet, each contemplating the sudden revelation. James broke the silence. 

"So, why did you want to tell me this?"

Amos ran a hand through his hair nervously, licking his lips as he tried to voice out his intentions towards the Gryffindor captain. "I want you to help me in…. asking her out on a date."

"Wait a minute – you're asking me to help you ask my friend out on a date?" repeated James, rather shocked at the revelation. "What happened to the Amos Diggory everyone knows? You know who I'm talking about – the one who has no shame when it comes to talking to a girl and not minding whether he makes an ass of himself?"

Amos chuckled. "Well, I don't know how to approach her," admitted the boy rather ashamed. 

"Alright then, what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know…maybe write her a letter or something?"

"You want _me _to write _Lily Evans_, my friend, a love letter?" asked James, chuckling in amazement. "Why?!"

"Well, out of all the boys in this school, you seem to be the only who connects with her," said Amos, his face a mask of seriousness. "I mean, you know how to talk to her; I saw what you did this morning, you know…"

An awkward pause. 

"Well?"

 "I'll think about it," answered James, receiving a grateful pat on the back from the Hufflpuff captain. "But I don't guarantee you that I will do it."

"Thanks, Potter! I owe you one!"

James watched as Amos disappeared from view, running a hand through his hair exasperatedly. "You're damn right you owe me one," he muttered as he himself walked towards the locker rooms, ready to take a shower. 

~~*~~~*~~

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter spent the whole afternoon without much event – each were, for once, working on some homework for the coming classes the next day. At around eleven o'clock, when the common room was nearly empty (and Peter already drooling all over his Potions essay), two of the still awake Marauders decided to retreat to their dormitories, leaving James to sit alone in the common room, laboring over his Charms homework. James heaved a heavy sigh as he wrote some answers onto his parchment, his forehead scrunched in concentration.

He wrenched his eyes away from the parchment, however, when the portrait hole squeaked open, revealing a tired Lily Evans carrying a mountain of books. James, being the occasional gentleman that he is, got up from his seat and took some of the books off the girl's load. "Bloody hell, Lily – you should have told me to come and get you at the library or something," remarked James, surprised at the weight of the books. "These things are heavy!"

"I didn't want to disturb you," argued Lily, walking towards the table James had been working on and placing her book bag atop his books. "Besides, I'm a big girl – I can take care of myself."

"Well, I need a distraction from all this work," said James as he finally reached the table, plopping the heavy books onto the table with a loud thud.  

"So next time, let me know if you need someone to help you carry books or something."

"Alright," sighed Lily, picking up her bag from the table and lifting some of the borrowed books into her arms. "I'm going to go ahead and get to bed – I'm tired. Are you going to stay here all night?" 

"Yeah – damn charms is killing me."

"Where are the others?"

"Sirius is probably up in the dormitory trying to lure Peter and Remus into another one of his schemes," smirked James. "As much as I want to help him out, I have a ton of work to do…"

"Do you want me to stay here with you? I can help you out with the charms homework," offered the girl. 

"No it's alright – I'm sure you need your beauty sleep. Get some rest."

Smiling at her friend, Lily bid the boy a good night and walked towards the girl's dormitory, yawning as she disappeared from view, unaware of the appraising gaze her friend was sending her way.

Sighing, James returned to his seat and picked up his quill, brandishing a new sheet of parchment from his bag. "You owe me, Amos," he muttered as he scribbled three words onto the parchment:

Dearest Lily Evans 

~~*~~~*~~

Lily wrenched her eyes to a close as the window hangings were pulled open, allowing the sunlight to hit her directly in the face. "Whoever's doing that, would you please stop?" Lily muttered groggily, covering her face with a slender arm. 

"Lily, it's time for you to get up and get ready for the day," answered a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair. "By the way, Lily – there's something on your desk there for you…I think you should read it as soon as possible."

Curious, the redhead groaned and sat up on her bed, looking around at the other girls in the room. "Where?"

"Right by your side table," replied the blonde, Diana Watson, pointing at a folded piece of parchment with the redhead's name neatly written in the middle. "I wonder what that is?"

Ignoring her disheveled hair, Lily grabbed the letter off the side table, her eyebrows scrunched in curiosity. "It's a letter."

"Well, what does it say?" asked Diana, jumping onto the bed next to Lily and snatching the letter off the redhead's hand. 

"I don't know; _let me read it first_," answered the girl, taking the letter back from the blonde's hand. She opened the parchment and proceeded to read, Diana reading over her shoulder.

Lily and Diana remained quiet, both staring at the paper, each with differing thoughts in their mind: Lily, amazed that someone at Hogwarts has actually noticed her; Diana, amused at Lily's situation (it was the first time in their seven years at Hogwarts that a boy had actually admitted that he fancied the intelligent redhead). "Well," began the blonde, breaking the short silence. "That was a rather short letter…what a waste of parchment."

Lily ignored her friend's comment, her mouth slightly agape as she contemplated the situation. _Who in the world would send me this?_ Thought the girl, bewildered. She was cut short of her internal musings, however, when the door to the girl's dormitory swung open. 

"Lily, I see you're finally up," greeted a girl with slightly long, brown hair. She walked towards the other two girls, her curly hair bouncing jovially with each step. "What's that?"

With a mischievous smile, Diana grabbed the letter from Lily's light grasp, then handed the piece of parchment to the other girl. "Lily's got herself an admirer, Arabella."

Reading the small message, Arabella Figg looked at the redhead (who was still shocked at the prospect of having an admirer) and walked towards the door, motioning for Diana. "Hey Diana, I think Lily wants to be left alone for now," said the girl, noticing that the usually opinionated head girl had not uttered a word since reading the note. 

"But what about Lily?" asked the blonde, looking at the girl in question. "Shouldn't she come with us?"

"I think she's a little shocked still," replied the brunette, glancing at the girl. "Don't worry, once the initial shock wears off, she'll come to her senses and realize she's hungry. We'll just meet her at the Great Hall."

Nodding, Diana gathered her things and proceeded for the door, waving a "see you later" at Lily, Arabella right behind her. Before fully closing the door, the curly-haired brunette turned to face the redhead, who by now was rereading the short note with lightly flushed cheeks. "Hey Lily," called the girl, a genuine smile on her face. "Welcome to the wonderful world of courtship…" And with that, the girl closed the door behind her, leaving the flushed-face Lily to stare at the parchment in her hand, reading the note in silence:

_Dearest Lily Evans,_

_Your eyes, deep pools of Emerald green, drown me with their beauty. _

_Your smile, like rays of sunshine, radiates my day with its cheer._

_Your hair, the deepest shade of red, intoxicates me with its shine._

You are beautiful beyond belief…I really wish you are mine… (If you would take the time to get to know me first, that is) 

_- An Admirer_

~~**~~~**~~

So…how was that chapter? I hope you, the reader, have noticed where this story is headed. If not, then I'll give you a clue: the story is somewhat based on Cyrano de Bergerac (for those of you who have read or seen that play). Don't worry, this is definitely an L/J so don't think that it's a story about Lily and Amos Diggory. If those of you guys want me to continue with this, then by all means, let me know. If not let me know as well…Now, how do you inform me as to whether or not I should continue? Well it's easy: through your reviews! Again, review this chapter so I can gauge whether this is a quality piece of work or not. Alright then, thanks for taking the time from you busy schedule and reading this! Have a wonderful day!

~~:AzaleaFaye:~~ 


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